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PRESENTED HY 



THE OLD CANNON FOFNDUY 

ABOVE GEORGETOWN, I). C. 
AND ITS FIRST OWNER 

HENRY FOXALL 



BY 

MADISON DAVIS 



Reprinted from the 
Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Vol". II, 1908 



Press of 

The New Era printing company 

Lancaster. Pa. 

1908 



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THE OLD CANNON FOUNDRY 

ABOVE GEORGETOWN, D. C. 

AND ITS FIRST OWNER f 2 /-*^ 

HENRY FOX ALL ^^ 



BY 

MADISON DAVIS 

ii 



Keprinted from the 
Eecords of the Columbia Historical Society, Vol. 11, 1908 



Press of 

The new era printing company 

Lancaster. Pa. 

1908 



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THE OLD CANNON FOUNDRY ABOVE GEORGE- 
TOWN, D. C, AND ITS FIRST OWNER, 
HENRY FOXALL. 

By MADISON DAVIS. 
(Read before the Society, February 11, 1907.) 

In the "History of Western Maryland," by J. T. 
Scliarf, Vol. 1, pages 135 and 136, the following state- 
ment is made concerning the condition of military 
affairs in the province of Maryland at the outbreak of 
the American Revolution: 

"Great difficulty was experienced at the beginning of the 
war in obtaining supplies. The arsenal at Annapolis was 
almost empty. To overcome these difficulties, the Convention 
gave encouragement and gratuities for the manufacture of 
saltpetre, materials for clothing, and munitions of war. 
Powder-mills were erected, and Colonel Hughes, of Washing- 
ton County, agreed to furnish cannon for the province, and 
established a foundry on the Potomac River, one mile above 
Georgetown, where the first cannon were made in this coun- 
try. A portion of the old stone building still remains, while 
broken fragments of cannon are at this time to be found in 
the stream of water that flows at the base of the building. 
Daniel and James Hughes, of the Antietam Iron Works in 
Washington County, and John Yoast, of Georgetown, also 
made cannon for the Revolution. Shells and cannon were 
also made at Catoctin Furnace, in Frederick County, by 
James and Thomas Johnson, during the Revolution, and some 
were used at the siege of Yorktown. ' ' 

These statements seem to have been made with almost 
a reckless disregard of historical accuracy. Some of 
them are in the main true; but so far as they apply to 



2 The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 

the establishment of cannon foundries at or near George- 
town, they have only the flimsiest foundation. Never- 
theless, they have been accepted as true by so eminent 
a scholar as Professor Bernard C. Steiner, librarian 
of the Enoch Pratt Library, of Baltimore, Maryland, 
who, in a paper entitled "Western Maryland in the 
Eevolution," published in Volume XX of the Johns 
Hopkins University Studies, repeats the account of the 
Hughes cannon foundry in the following words : 

"The first cannon said to have been cast in this country 
were made at the foundry of Colonel Daniel Hughes, on the 
Potomac Biver, one mile above Georgetown. A portion of 
the building yet remained in 1880, while broken fragments 
of cannon were still to be found in the stream of water flow- 
ing at the base of the building. ' ' 

Omitting all discussion of the allegation of these two 
writers that the first cannon made in this country were 
turned out at the beginning of the Eevolutionary War, 
except to say that it is probably incorrect,* as well as 
of the further assertion that cannon were made at Ca- 
toctin Furnace by James and Thomas Johnson for the 
use of the Eevolutionary forces, which is also prob- 
ably incorrect, but concerning which I have not fully 
informed myself, I propose to show that the story of 
the Georgetown foundries, agreeable as it is to our local 
pride, and however harmonious it may be with that 
burning spirit of patriotic enthusiasm which permeated 
the province of Maryland all through the period of the 
Eevolution, and nowhere more thoroughly than in that 
part of its territory now comprehended in the District 

* In Harper's " Book of Facts," p. 147, it is said that cannon were 
cast at Lynn, Mass., by Henry Leonard, in 1647, and at Orr's Foundry, 
Bridgewater, in 1648. In 1735 the Hope Foundry was established in 
Rhode Island, where six heavy cannon ordered by the authorities were 
cast in 1775. The heaviest guns used at this time were 18-pounders. 



The Fo.vaU Cannon Foundry. 3 

of Columbia, is a myth, having, however, like most 
myths, a germ of truth as its nucleus. 

In the first place, the only streams worthy of the 
name emptying into the Potomac Eiver that can be sup- 
posed to answer to the description given, are, first, the 
little creek that has its outlet near the terminus of the 
old Potomac Canal, which is over two miles above 
Georgetown ; and, second, the creek, formerly known as 
Deep Branch and Mill Branch, now universally called 
Foundry Branch, flowing into the river at a point nearly 
opposite the Three Sisters, a group of partly submerged 
rocks just One mile above High Street in Georgetown. 
The first of these streams is unquestionably not the one 
to which Scharf and Steiner refer. It is true that near 
it is an old stone building, and that this building was 
in a state of ruin in 1880 ; but the history of this struc- 
ture is perfectly well known, and that it was ever used 
for the making of cannon, either before or after the 
Revolution, is absolutely beyond belief. Its mission 
was a more pacific one. It was built soon after the 
planting of Georgetown, as authorized by act of the 
Assembly of Maryland in 1751, was used in the begin- 
ning as a flouring-mill, and continued to be so used 
down to a time within the memory of many of our oldest 
inhabitants. The old race may still be traced to its 
source at the Little Falls; the architectural arrange- 
ment of the building is utterly irreconcilable with its 
use for foundry purposes; within its walls may be 
exactly located the places where the burrs were once 
busily running ; and I am not sure but that half-buried 
fragments of these stones, instead of broken cannon, 
are yet observable in the approaches to the crumbling 
ruin.* The other stream— Deep, or Mill, or Foundry 
Branch— is no doubt that to which Scharf and Steiner 
make allusion. It is within the given distance from 

* This Btructure is known ;is Eada'a .Mill. 



4 The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 

Georgetown ; it has near its banks a ruined stone build- 
ing ; and it seems to otherwise accord with the descrip- 
tion given. But upon examination of the Maryland 
and District records, it is ascertained that none of the 
land contiguous to this brook ever belonged to or was 
leased by any person of the name of Hughes, and going 
back to the condemnation of the surrounding land in 
1762, which is early enough as a starting-point, the list 
of owners does not include the name of Hughes. It 
seems to have been acquired and from time to time 
transferred by a number of different persons repre- 
senting families still well known in Maryland and 
Georgetown — Murdock, Lingan, Thompson, Bayly, 
Deakins, Tillotson and others— until 1800 and several 
years thereafter, when three or four tracts, more par- 
ticularly connected with the subject of this paper, were 
purchased by Henry Foxall, concerning whom more will 
be said later on. If a foundry had been established 
at this point in the days of the Revolution, certainly the 
ground on which it stood would have been held by the 
projector either as owner or lessee. 

In the second place, no local tradition points to the 
existence of a cannon foundry anywhere near George- 
town during the period of the Revolution; no writers 
except those above mentioned make any reference to 
such an establishment; and there are no remains or 
ruins in existence to give the appearance of probability 
to the story other than those to be hereafter described, 
and whose later origin can be easily established. There 
may, indeed, have been found as late as 1880 along the 
banks of the little creek some pieces of cannon ; but the 
guns from which these fragments came were not cast 
in the days of seventy-six: they were the imperfect 
product of a manufactory started nearly a quarter of a 



The Foxall Cannon Foundry. $ 

century later, and which continued in the same general 
line of work for fifty years afterward.* 

Besides the foregoing reasons, the unsuitability of a 
spot on the Potomac River one mile above Georgetown 
as the location of a cannon foundry, at the beginning 
of the Revolution, may be reasonably urged. The place 
was quite distant from the sources of supply of fuel, 
lime, and iron ore ; the river above was not navigable ; 
the Potomac Canal existed only in the prophetic brain 
of its great originator, George Washington; and the 
cost of wagoning pig-iron from the furnaces where it 
was made, would have been enormous. It would have 
been infinitely preferable to establish a cannon foundry 
farther west in Maryland, or at some other point, where 
iron ores existed, where the materials used in fluxing 
them were in close contiguity, and whence the finished 
product of the concern could have been more readily 
and economically conveyed to the east and south, where 
the operations of the impending war were more likely 
to be carried on. And this fact was obvious to the 
business men of that day; for we find that three iron 
manufactories, with the advantages referred to, had 
already been founded in Maryland— one known as 
Snowden's Iron Works, between Bladensburg and Bal- 
timore; one near Frederick, called the Catoctin Fur- 
nace; and the other at Elizabethtown, afterwards 
Hagerstown, quite well known as the Antietam Iron 
Works.f 

* The writer of this paper remembers having seen at the place men- 
tioned, when he was a lad, several pieces of a cannon that had burst 
in testing. He was informed by his father, that the exploded gun had 
been cast in the year 1850, when James Maynadier Mason, executor of 
General John Mason, was superintending the operations of the neighbor- 
ing foundry. 

f Prior to the Revolution there was a smelting and iron-founding 
establishment doing business at Colchester in Fairfax County, Va., 



6 The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 

A still further reason against the correctness of the 
story nnder discussion lies in the fact that one of the 
proprietors of the Antietam establishment was Daniel 
Hughes, the man who is said to have built and carried 
on the cannon foundry near Georgetown; and in the 
additional fact that he and his partner, Samuel Hughes, 
(not James Hughes as Scharf erroneously calls him,) 
at the very incipiency of the war, patriotically pro- 
posed to enter upon the manufacture of cannon for 
the province, at the Antietam works, and thereupon 
actually began the work under a contract with the 
Council of Safety. It further appears that they were 
inexperienced in the making of ordnance, and naturally 
there was some delay and more or less of failure in 
carrying out their agreement.* For example, although 
their contract was made long before the close of the 
year 1775, it was not until the latter part of March, 
1776, that they had been able to produce a single gun ; 
and even then the piece was found on trial to be de- 
fective, notwithstanding the confident predictions of 
the makers. The following letter as to this matter, 
dated March 22, 1776, from Mr. William Lux, of Balti- 
more, to the Council of Safety, is quite interesting: 

"Mr. Hughes cast one 18-pounder on Monday, and it was 
bored. He expected to have four ready last night, and begs 
to have some person sent up to prove them, that if any fault 
be found, he may remedy it before he proceeds too far. He 

near the mouth of Occoquan Creek, the foundation walls of the struc- 
ture being still traceable; but the building itself, as well as the village 
around it, has long since disappeared. The celebrated George Mason, 
who lived at Gunston Hall, about twenty miles below Georgetown, on 
the Potomac, near Colchester, in one of his letters, suggested that this 
foundry might be used for the supply of cannon to the American Army; 
but there is no evidence that it ever was so used. 

* For references to this contract, see " American Archives," Fourth 
Series, vol. 5, pages 463, 504, 1594, and vol. 6, page 1256. 



The Foxall Cannon Fowndry. 7 

thinks they will answer your expectations, and turn out ex- 
ceedingly fine." 

The letter showing the action of the Council of 
Safety on the request of Mr. Lux, addressed to Cap- 
tain Burgess, an expert in such matters, is also in- 
teresting, as showing the names of the contractors and 
the location of their foundry: 

"The Council of Safety have appointed you to prove the 
cannon to be supplied this province by Messrs. Daniel and 
Samuel Hughes, and request you will immediately repair for 
that purpose to their works at Antietam." 

Some of the difficulties encountered by these con- 
tractors, who it is pleasing to record were men of 
high character and disinterested patriotism, may be 
surmised by reading the proceedings of the Maryland 
Convention of May 24, 1776: 

"On hearing Mr. Daniel Hughes as to the execution of the 
contract made by Samuel Hughes, on behalf of himself and 
the said Daniel Hughes, for the casting and furnishing of 
cannon for the public — 

11 Resolved, That inquiry be made what is the standard 
proof of the cannon contracted for on account of the conti- 
nent, and that the same proof be had of the cannon to be 
furnished by the said Hugheses on their contract. 

"Resolved, That notwithstanding the said Hugheses have 
not furnished the public with cannon within the time they 
contracted to do the same, that, on their pursuing the work 
with diligence, the Council of Safety for the time being take 
the whole number contracted for on the account and for the 
use of the public." 

It is satisfactory to be able to record that the un- 
happy early experiences of these two patriotic men 
turned out to be for their and their country's good; 



8 The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 

for by the skill thereby acquired, they not only suc- 
ceeded in supplying the province with good cannon, 
but they were able to enter into an arrangement with 
the Continental Congress whereby the army of Gen- 
eral Washington and several other branches of the 
Continental forces were greatly aided.* 

In view of all these facts— the existence, prior to 
1775, of a smeltery and foundry belonging to Daniel 
and Samuel Hughes, at Hagerstown, where iron ore, 
limestone, and fuel were easily obtainable; the offer 
of these men to devote their establishment to public 
use in the expectation of war with England; their 
actual entry into contract with the province of Mary- 
land in fulfillment of this offer ; and the great difficulties 
they met with in carrying out their agreement, so that 
it was not until after the Declaration of Independence 
that they succeeded in producing satisfactory workf — 

* In a letter from the Maryland Council of Safety to the Maryland 
delegates in Congress, Daniel Hughes is " recommended as a man of 
credit, and as one who might safely have a contract for the manu- 
facture of cannon. The first cannon cast by him would not stand proof; 
but now they are very good. He would be willing to enlarge his 
works if he could be assured by Congress that his year's product would 
all be taken." (See "American Archives," Fifth Series, vol. 1, p. 219.) 

The recommendation thus given led to the following action: 

" Continental Congress, July 19, 1776. — Resolved, That the com- 
mittee appointed to contract for the making cannon be empowered to 
contract with Messrs. Hughes for one thousand tons of cannon on the 
terms by them proposed." 

" Continental Congress, July 22, 1776. — Committee reported that 
they have executed a contract with Messrs. Hughes, in which is a 
covenant to advance $8,000. 

" Resolved, That an order for $8,000 be drawn on the treasurers in 
favor of Daniel and Samuel Hughes." ( See " American Archives," Fifth 
Series, vol. 1, pp. 1585 and 1587.) 

f In support of this assertion the following letter from the Council 
of Safety to Samuel and Daniel Hughes is presented: 

"Annapolis, July 5, 1776. 

" Gentlemen: The Convention have directed the Council of Safety to 
fortify Annapolis immediately. This cannot be done without you 



The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 9 

I say, in view of all this, is it not rather preposterous 
to suppose that one of these men would have under- 
taken to build an entirely new and expensive plant, at 
a place distant from his base of supplies, and that he 
actually succeeded in his venture? This, too, it must 
be borne in mind, in face of the further fact that no 
record of the matter can be found in any other papers 
that have come down to us from those stirring times I 
The truth is, that Daniel Hughes made no such propo- 
sition to any of the several Committees of Observation 
in the province, to either branch of the Council of 
Safety, to the Maryland Convention, or to the Conti- 
nental Congress. The allegation by Scharf in relation 
to this matter is entirely unsupported. The only facts 
that give the least show of plausibility to it are the 
offers made to the Council of Safety and to the Conti- 
nental Congress by Daniel and Samuel Hughes to en- 
large their manufactory at Hagerstown under certain 
conditions, and the existence, at the time that Scharf 's 
and Steiner 's histories were written, of an old foundry 
at Georgetown, where fragments of cannon were to be 
found. If either of these writers had made any real 
investigation of the matter, he would have found that 
the foundry in question had its origin in the removal 
of the seat of government from Philadelphia to the 
newly founded capital city on the banks of the Potomac 
in 1800 ; that neither Daniel nor Samuel Hughes, though 

comply with your contract with the province, or as much thereof as you 
possibly can. You will therefore be pleased to send as many of the 18- 
and 9-pounders to Baltimore as may be in your power. 

" Messrs. Daniel and Samuel Hughes." 

(See "American Archives," Fourth Series, vol. 6, p. 1266.) 

Reference is also made to a letter, dated March 19, 1776, from the 
Council of Safety to the New York Committee, asking for the loan 
of a small supply of ordnance, in which the statement is made that 
" every effort to provide cannon for the province of Maryland has so 
far failed." 



io The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 

they were both living at the time,* had anything what- 
ever to do with its creation ; that it was built and owned 
by a far-seeing Englishman, Henry Foxall by name, 
who had come over from Philadelphia for the purpose ; 
that it was not in a state of ruin, as is intimated, though 
one of the buildings of which the concern consisted has 
since become a wreck; and that its work, until circum- 
stances necessitated its discontinuance, had compre- 
hended, from 1801 to 1849, the successful completion of 
probably ten or fifteen thousand guns of various cali- 
bres, to say nothing of shot and shell, by which the 
nation was immensely benefited, particularly in the 
War of 1812, and for which the first owner and his 
successor were paid millions of dollars. 

Before proceeding to give an account of this foundry 
it is necessary to say that the assertion of Scharf that 
cannon were made in Georgetown during the Revolu- 
tion by John Yoast, is equally without foundation. 
There isn 't a shred of evidence out of which to attempt 
to weave such a story. The error may have arisen out 
of these facts : On the twentieth of August, 1775, a com- 
mittee of the Maryland Convention to whom the sub- 
ject had been referred reported that it was inadvisable 
to authorize the creation of a public gun manufactory ; 
that it would be far better to rely on private enterprise 
for securing such guns as the troops of the province 
might need; that there were then in operation twelve 
gunsmith's shops— three in Baltimore, four in Fred- 
erick, one near Frederick, two in Hagerstown, one in 
Georgetown, and one in Jerusalemtown— each of which 
might be depended on to produce twenty guns a month. 
Thereupon contracts seem to have been entered into, 

* In the list of the original purchasers of stock of the old Potomac 
Canal, originated and fostered by General Washington, we find the 
names of Daniel and Samuel Hughes, of Hagerstown, Md. 




Portrait of Henry Foxai.l. 

Original Painting in Possession of Foundry M. E. Church, 

Washington, D. C. 



The Foxall Cannon Foundry. n 

one of which was with the Georgetown gunsmith, John 
Yoast.* The guns here referred to were muskets, of 
course, though Scharf, in hastily reading the record, 
may have supposed that cannon were meant. Mr. 
Yoast no doubt faithfully carried out his contract for 
muskets, although he seems to have had some trouble 
in connection with it; but the assertion that he ever 
made a single cannon is utterly without authority, and 
is altogether unreasonable.! 

The old Foxall Foundry, known in its early days as 
the Columbian Foundry, is still in existence. No busi- 
ness, however, is now carried on in its once busy pre- 
cincts, and to the vast majority of the citizens of the 
District of Columbia even its location is unknown. But 
although it is now somewhat over a century old, it is yet 
in fairly good condition, with the exception of the larger 
of its two boring-mills, which is a hopeless ruin. Apart 
from this, the walls of the several buildings are all solid, 
and substantially without fault; and if the establish- 
ment were not situated out of the line of travel, or 
were within convenient reach of the commercial world, 
its ancient prosperity might yet be revived, not, how- 
ever, in the character of an ordnance factory, for the 

* In several parts of Scharf s history, Yoast is referred to as Henry 
Yoast. 

t On this point, a letter to Yoast from the Council of Safety, dated 
March 26, 1776, will be found interesting: 

" The Council of Safety desire you will be as expeditious as you 
possibly can in supplying the muskets you engaged to make for the 
province, and inform us whether you have any now completed, aa 
we are in very great need of them, and will send for them as soon 
as you have a number ready." ("American Archives," Fourth Series, 
vol. 5, p. 504.) 

During the progress of his work Yoast was charged by some 
malicious person with selling the public powder that had been 
furnished him by the Council for proving his guns; but after a careful 
investigation, he was exonerated. 



12 The Foxall Camion Foundry. 

Government is now largely its own manufacturer, but 
in some other line of mechanical enterprise, in which 
most of the buildings, without much repair, might be 
utilized for perhaps another century. At any rate, the 
old foundry, with the other shops immediately contig- 
uous to it, is far from being a ruin, as the Maryland 
historians were led to believe. It is situated between 
the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Potomac River, 
about half a mile above the Aqueduct Bridge; but it 
can hardly be seen either from the public road along 
the berme side of the canal or from the towpath, being 
partly housed in and hidden by a huge frame structure 
used some years ago as an ice-house by the Independent 
Ice Company, and being more or less concealed by the 
bank of the canal. It is approachable by the towpath, 
or by a road lower down along the edge of the river ; or 
it may be got at, with some difficulty now, by going up 
along the berme bank of the canal to the first road 
culvert above Georgetown, and then through the mud 
and water of that almost disused passageway to the 
southern end. The property at present consists of 
four or five acres of land, two stone buildings formerly 
used as molding and casting shops, two other stone 
houses, where mills for boring and finishing cannon 
were in use, and which contained also carpenter and 
pattern shops, other necessary branches of the cannon 
works, and a frame dwelling, besides the large wooden 
ice-house before referred to. In Foxall 's time, and in 
fact until some years subsequent to the death of Gen- 
eral Mason, Foxall 's successor, the property took in 
also about two acres to the northward, part of which 
was a proving-ground, and on another part of which 
was situated a large four-story stone boring-mill and 
several buildings used as offices and as dwellings for 
some of the employees of the institution. This por- 



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14 The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 

15, 1804, from John Templeman and wife ; and the third 
by deed dated April 1, 1815, from Thomas Tillotson 
and wife. Other tracts of land in the immediate vicin- 
ity of the foundry were also bought by Mr. Foxall 
from time to time; so that he had a continuous tract 
from the river half a mile or more to the north, con- 
taining some sixty or seventy acres. The upper part 
of this tract, called the Spring Hill Farm, has been in 
the possession of Mr. Foxall 's descendants ever since 
his death. It is now owned by Mr. Charles H. Cragin, 
the well-known Washington lawyer, and his sister, Mrs. 
Edith McCartney, great-grandchildren of the original 
purchaser.* 

The foundry property was retained by Foxall until 
1815, when, having decided to retire from business, he 
disposed of it to General John Mason, of Analostan 
Island, who continued the business up to the time of 
his death in 1849. For five years after this it remained 
an undivided part of the Mason estate, the operations 
of the foundry being superintended by James Mayna- 
dier Mason, one of the sons and executors of General 
Mason ; but in 1854 a sale was made to Spencer B. Eoot, 
subsequently to John S. Berry, and so on through many 
vicissitudes and some litigation, down to its acquisition 
in 1888 by the present owner. After the sale to Root 
the foundry was operated for some years under the 
management of Kirkland & Duvall, both members of 
the firm having been employed by General Mason ; but 
finding the business unprofitable in so inconvenient a 
location — having no government work to rely on — they 
moved into Georgetown. Since then the old establish- 
ment has been used for several purposes— at one time 

* Since this paper was originally prepared, I have learned from an 
article appearing in the Washington Evening Star that Mr. Cragin 
and his sister have disposed of the property. 



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The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 15 

it was a distillery— but it never has been again put to 
its original use as a foundry. 

Prior to bis coming to Georgetown Mr. Foxall had 
been engaged in the iron business in Philadelphia, 
where he formed the acquaintance of nearly all the 
prominent officers of the government, his partner being 
Robert Morris, Jr., son of the celebrated financier of 
the Eevolution. The designation of the concern was 
the Eagle Iron Works, and its business was principally 
the manufacture of cannon for the War and Navy De- 
partments. Several writers have asserted that Foxall 's 
partner in Philadelphia, and even in Georgetown, was 
Robert Morris, the father;* but this is probably a mis- 
take, for in the early part of 1798 that great man— who 
had been financially embarrassed even before the time 
of Foxall 's emigration to the United States, which is 
said to have been in 1797— was committed to a debtor's 
prison, from which he was not released until August 
26, 1801.f Assuredly he could not have been a partner 
of Foxall during any portion of this period. More- 
over, it will be seen by a perusal of the following extract 
from a letter recently received by the writer of this 
paper from Major General F. C. Ainsworth, Adjutant 
General of the United States army, that in at least 
two of the early arrangements made by the Secretary 
of War for obtaining supplies of cannon, Robert Mor- 
ris, Jr., (and not the elder Morris,) was named as a 
partner or co-contractor with Foxall: 

* Rev. W. M. Ferguson in his interesting book on " Methodism in 
Washington," and Miss S. Somerville Mackall, in her equally interest- 
ing story of the " Early Days of Georgetown," are among the writers 
who have made this mistake. 

t See Allen C. Clark's " Greenleaf and Law in the Federal City," 
pages 30 to 35 — a book that is at once unique and invaluable, and as 
interesting as a romance. 

2 



1 6 The Foxall Camion Foundry. 

"It appears from the records of this office that under date 
of September 11, 1799, a contract was entered into with 
Henry Foxall and Kobert Morris, Jr., to furnish iron cannon 
for the use of the United States to the amount of twenty- 
thousand dollars, the said cannon to be valued at one hundred 
and forty-six dollars sixty-six cents and two-thirds of a cent 
for every ton weight the said cannon shall weigh. 

"These records also show that on May 20, 1800, a contract 
was entered into with Henry Foxall and Robert Morris, Jr., 
to deliver for the use of the United States 'iron cannon to be 
24-pounders, iron cannon to be 18-pounders, and iron cannon 
to be 12-pounders, to the amount of twenty thousand dollars.' 
The price to be paid for these cannon was set at one hundred 
and forty-six dollars sixty-six cents and two-thirds of a cent 
per ton." 

In subsequent arrangements with the Government, 
Foxall appears always as sole contractor. It is a note- 
worthy fact, too, that the first of these later arrange- 
ments, comprehending the manufacture of forty iron 
24-pounder cannon and thirty 32-pounders, was dated 
December 20, 1800, just four days prior to Foxall 's first 
acquisition of land in Georgetown. The bestowal at 
that particular time of this contract, which was no 
doubt carried out by means of the then projected new 
foundry, reasonably indicates that the Government had 
given a promise of encouragement to the enterprise, 
and affords also partial confirmation of the story, often 
alluded to as at least a tradition, that Thomas Jeffer- 
son, the then elected President, had induced Foxall, as 
a matter of importance to the Government, and it may 
be to the new city, to establish his foundry at the capital 
or contiguous thereto.* 

* Owing to some restrictions that have been established in connec- 
tion with the examination of the archives of the Navy Department, I 
have been unable to ascertain the nature and extent of the arrange- 
ments entered into with Mr. Foxall by that department. 



The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 17 

From this time on, the foundry was continuously em- 
ployed in the manufacture of cannon, of various cali- 
bres, for both the War and Navy Departments, together 
with shot and shell and gun-carriages, at prices which, 
while apparently very reasonable, yet brought to the 
proprietor handsome profits ; and this work, especially 
during the War of 1812, when the Government had no 
establishment of its own, and when only a few other 
private establishments were available, was of great 
national usefulness. It is said, for example, that some 
of the guns that formed the armament of Commodore 
Perry's little fleet on Lake Erie in 1813, and which 
therefore contributed to his brilliant victory over the 
British, were cast at the Columbian Foundiy and wag- 
oned over the mountains, and so on to Perry's rendez- 
vous, just prior to the battle.* 

The capacity of the Columbian Foundry in Foxall 's 
time was probably three hundred heavy guns and thirty 
thousand shot a year. This, at any rate, was the esti- 
mate made in 1836, twenty years after Foxall 's retire- 
ment, (the works not having been materially changed,) 
by Brigadier General John E. Wool and Lieutenant 
Colonel G. Talcott, in a report made to the Secretary 
of War in connection with a proposition then under dis- 
cussion to establish a national cannon foundry at the 
seat of government! The power relied on to run the 

* See " Reminiscences of Georgetown," by Rev. T. B. Balch; also 
" Methodism in Washington," by Rev. W. M. Ferguson. 

t See American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. VI., pp. 82-91. 
It is interesting to note that General Wool and Colonel Taleott 
reported that the only foundry sites in the District of Columbia worthy 
of consideration were between the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the 
Potomac River on land extending from the Chain Bridge to Georgetown. 
One of the sites examined comprehended the tract, containing 55 acres, 
from the bridge to the mill, now in ruins, generally known as Eads's 
Mill. Another site took in the land, about 42 acres, between the mill 
and the old guard-lock of the canal, a short distance bevond the 



1 8 The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 

works was obtained by Foxall from the little stream 
mentioned by Scharf and Steiner; and this continued 
to be the case when he retired from the business, though 
after the completion of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal 
arrangements were made by his successor to secure 
power therefrom should it ever be needed.* 

Foxall 's selection of this foundry site, before the 
power of steam had begun to be extensively utilized in 
manufacturing establishments, was an indication of his 
sagacity ; for the land acquired was cheap ; it included 
water-power sufficient for his purposes ; it afforded him 
facilities for obtaining supplies from Western Mary- 
land through the Potomac Canal, whose completion 
was so largely due to the exertions of General Wash- 
first waste-weir of the canal above Georgetown. The third site in- 
cluded the lands and buildings of the Columbian Foundry, then belong- 
ing to General John Mason, containing about seven acres, with the 
addition of ten acres to the west, belonging to the Chesapeake and 
Ohio Canal Company. The site recommended by the two officers was 
the second. 

* The dam by means of which Foxall secured his water-power was 
built about a quarter of a mile above the ruined stone boring-mill to 
which reference has been made, the lake thus formed being about 25 
feet deep. The water flowing from this dam was led through a race 
which extended along the hillside to the west and above the bed of 
the creek to an overshot wheel connected with the machinery of the 
mill, after which the water was conveyed by a trunk to the eastern 
side of the stream, and thence through a short additional race and 
a second trunk to the smaller boring-mill immediately contiguous to the 
foundry. When the Chesapeake and Ohio canal was afterwards built, 
the water from the race was carried under the canal by means of an 
iron tube. The valley of the creek has been greatly altered since the 
days of Foxall and Mason by the building of an immense sewer, which 
for a considerable distance now receives the waters of the stream, and 
by the necessary quarrying and grading in connection with that work; 
but the location and extent of the dam, and the course of the race at 
least down to the first boring-mill, can be distinctly seen at this day. 
The projecting ends of the iron tube on the two sides of the canal 
are also visible, and are the subject of much speculation among those 
who now and then visit the place. 



03 C3 

3 O 

3 50 

a 2 



o p 
33 w 




The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 19 

ington after the Revolution, and whose outlet into the 
river was only a short distance above ; it gave him con- 
veniences for shipping by the river the product of the 
works; and we have the testimony of a committee of 
the House of Representatives that the site in other 
respects was an admirable one.* 

The amount of work turned out by the Columbian 
Foundry throughout its ownership by Foxall and his 
successor, Mason, was very considerable, and must have 
been of tremendous importance to the country; for it 
should be remembered that during all this time the Gov- 
ernment had no foundry of its own, and was compelled 
to satisfy its needs through only four private concerns 
—one at West Point, N. Y., one at Pittsburg, Pa., one 
near Richmond, Va., and the other in the District of 
Columbia; and these, though constantly worked, and 
with skill and integrity, were barely sufficient. 

There are three incidents in the history of the old 
foundry that are worthy of mention : 

First— In 1807 Mr. Foxall began to fear that the 
time was approaching when the thought, labor, and 
money expended by him in building up his plant would 
practically be lost; for the officers of the Government 
had begun to think that a national establishment, in 
the District of Columbia, directly under the control of 
military men, would be far better than one in the hands 
of private contractors. This opinion was shared by 
Henry Dearborn, the Secretary of War, who, after per- 
sonally conferring with Foxall about the matter, did 
not scruple to ask his views in writing, and his advice 
as a practical man. The answer given shows the innate 
nobility and patriotism of this remarkable man. He 
did not go to Mr. Jefferson, his firm friend, and ask 
him to call off the Secretary of War ; he did not whim- 

* See American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. VI, p. 414. 



20 The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 

per and plead that the Government should further sus- 
tain him, as a matter of good faith and simple justice, 
after his very heavy outlay; he did not argue that a 
government shop would probably fail from lack of 
experience in its officers ; he did not say— which would 
have been undoubtedly true— that the Department 
would have to pay more for its guns in the long run 
than by getting them from private foundries. On the 
contrary, he frankly stated that in his judgment the 
proposed undertaking would be a wise one; that in a 
short time the employees selected by the Government to 
do its work would acquire, all the skill that might be 
needed; that he himself would give his best services 
and the benefit of his long experience in England and 
this country to make the establishment a success; and 
he recommended, not that the Government should buy 
the already equipped Columbian Foundry, and thus in 
a measure save him from loss, as many another man 
would have done, but that it should construct an entirely 
new concern, the details of which he candidly explained, 
on its own land at Greenleaf's Point in the city of 
Washington, where, indeed, the War Department did 
eventually erect an ordnance manufactory and arsenal. 
He wound up this notable and disinterested letter by 
the following ingenuous statement: 

"While I have been endeavoring to throw my ideas to- 
gether on paper, and give my opinions at large on the neces- 
sity and utility of a national foundry, I think you will agree 
with me that I have done it like one that had no establishment 
of the kind of his own, and not like one who has an establish- 
ment of the kind, and who has nearly his all invested in it; 
and this done at the particular request of the Government; 
and also that at the time they shall withdraw their aid and 
patronage therefrom, it will as a manufactory, with all its 



The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 21 

expensive machinery, become useless and of little value to me 
its proprietor."* 

Second.— When in August, 1814, the British army 
under General Boss captured the city of Washington 
and destroyed the public buildings, Mr. Foxall no doubt 
began again to fear that the Columbian Foundry would 
be lost to him ; for what would have been more natural 
than that the enemy, knowing him to be an Englishman 
by birth, and that his gun-plant had been working 
night and day to supply the Government with the neces- 
sary munitions of war, should have regarded it as 
worthy of destruction! There is a tradition, at any 
rate, that Ross during his short occupancy of the cap- 
ital sent a detachment of troops to Georgetown for the 
purpose of destroying the foundry; but that persistent 
rumors of the concentration and return of the American 
army after its retreat from Bladensburg, and a fright- 
ful storm of lightning, wind, and rain, induced these 
vandals to return to their associates before accomplish- 
ing their mission. f In fact, the supposed intention of 
the British to destroy the foundry is founded upon 
something more than tradition. It is fairly borne out 
by the following statement of an English writer who 
accompanied the army of General Ross as a subaltern: 

"The troops, . . . after having put to the sword all who 
were found in the house from which the shots were fired, and 
reduced it to ashes, . . . proceeded without a moment's delay 
to burn and destroy everything in the most distant degree 
connected with the Government." I 

* See American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. I, pp. 215-217. 

t See Ferguson's "Methodism in Washington"; also a pamphlet 
issued by the congregation of the Foundry Methodist Episcopal Church 
in Washington, D. C, upon the occasion of the dedication of their 
new church building in 1904. 

t See " Campaigns of the British Army at Washington," by Rev. 
George Robert Gleig, pp. 129-130. 



22 The Fox all Cannon Foundry. 

It is also sustained by a statement in Christian 
Hines 's ' ' Reminiscences, ' ' to the effect that just after 
the retreat of the British army he had organized an ex- 
pedition to repair Fort Washington, on the Potomac, in 
order that successful resistance might be made to the 
return of the British fleet under Captain Gordon, which 
everybody was expecting, for the purpose of carrying 
out Ross's intention to destroy the Foxall foundry.* 

Third.— In 1836, while General Mason was pro- 
prietor of the Columbian Foundry, the old idea of a 
national establishment, which notwithstanding the 
strong support given it by Foxall in 1807, had failed 
or been abandoned, was revived, and the proposition 
was vigorously urged. General Mason was of course 
consulted; but he had very different views regarding 
the matter from those of his disinterested predecessor. 
He did not propose, if he could help it, to have his 
property ruined by the creation of a new and up-to- 
date establishment belonging to the nation, and no 
doubt he sincerely felt that the best policy for the Gov- 
ernment to pursue would be to create a larger plant 
upon the basis of the private one already in existence. 
In other words, he thought that his own property 
should be purchased, and altered or enlarged to meet 
the public wants. He therefore bestirred himself at 
once, particularly among his friends in Congress, and 
succeeded in having the Committee on Military Affairs 
bring in a report recommending the purchase of his 
plant for $75,000, and the acquisition of ten acres of 
adjoining land belonging to the Chesapeake and Ohio 
Canal Company for the erection of an addition to the 
manufactory; and this notwithstanding the fact that 
a board of army officers had condemned the proposi- 
tion to buy the Mason property, upon the ground 

* " Early Recollections of Washington," by Christian Hines, p. 57. 



The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 23 

mainly that it was too contracted for Government use. 
The Congressional report which was made by Hon. 
Richard M. Johnson, and was quite elaborate, has an 
interesting accompaniment, prepared by Mason him- 
self, giving in great detail a schedule of the lands, 
buildings, water-power, machinery, and tools of the 
establishment, which is worthy of examination by those 
who are interested in the subject.* I therefore attach 
a copy of it as a supplement to this paper. 

The creation of the Columbian Foundry by Henry 
Foxall, and the successful administration of its affairs 
by him for fifteen years, resulting in his amassing 
considerable wealth, in developing almost a national 
reputation, and in gaining for him the unqualified 
respect of the officers with whom he had to deal, show 
him to have been a shrewd, discreet, intelligent, and 
above all an honest man. But aside from his connec- 
tion with the Government, his whole career is worthy 
of attention and admiration. For this reason I pre- 
sent the following biographical sketch, the facts in 
which I have garnered from various sources, but more 
particularly from a short but well-written article, 
which appeared in the Wesleyan Methodist Magazine 
for August, 1824, 3d series, pages 505 to 508, an Eng- 
lish periodical, prepared by one who was evidently 
an intimate acquaintance of Foxall— the Rev. Joseph 
Entwistle, a Wesleyan clergyman :f 

Henry Foxall was born in Monmouthshire, England, 
on the 24th of May, 1758, of very respectable parents, 

* See American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. VI, pp. 414-418. 

f My other sources of information are my father, Addison L. Davis, 
whose informant was General John Mason; the late James Lawrenson, 
of Baltimore, Md.; Mrs. Harriet Cropley, who married a grandson of 
Mr. Foxall; a paper prepared by Mr. Foxall McKenney, grandson; and 
Mr. Charles H. Cragin and Mrs. Edith McCartney, great-grandchildren; 
besides general tradition. 



24 The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 

who lived chiefly in West Bromley, near Birmingham, 
in which busy city he became an iron moulder, and was 
otherwise thoroughly educated in the various branches 
of the iron trade. They were pious people, faithful 
followers of the celebrated John Wesley, and intimate 
friends of Francis Asbury who is sometimes called 
the St. Paul of American Methodism.* They en- 
deavored, we may naturally assume, to bring him up 
so as to pursue the same straight and narrow path in 
life that they had been treading. But in this they 
only partially succeeded ; for while he matured into an 
upright, large-hearted, and courageous man, never 
afraid to avow his convictions whenever appropriate 
or necessary, and so impressing his fellowmen with a 
sense of his integrity that his spoken promises were as 
good as his written obligations, yet his general course 
was not a religious one, and he had in his make-up 
more or less of a restlessness of spirit that made him 
rather dissatisfied with his somewhat contracted en- 
vironment. Accordingly we find that in 1794, in the full- 
ness of his manhood, he left Birmingham for Ireland, 
where he had the superintendency of some important 
iron-works, near Dublin, and afterwards at Carrick- 
on-Shannon, and that in 1797, being still discontented 
with his condition, he left Ireland for the United 
States, landing in the city of Philadelphia, and going 
at once into the business in which he had been brought 
up. He had married in England, in 1780, his wife being 
Ann Harward, of Stourport, Worcestershire, a sweet 
Christian lady, and had no doubt accumulated a little 

* In the paper prepared by the grandson of Mr. Foxall, referred to 
in the preceding note, the statement is made that the parents of Mr. 
Foxall were zealous Church of England people, and that their children 
were all baptized and brought up as Episcopalians. The further state- 
ment is made that the wife of Foxall was a pious Methodist, under 
whose influence he became a member of that Society. 




Portrait of Henry Fox all. 

Original Painting in Possession of Miss Osboro, 
Georgetown, D. C. 



The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 25 

fortune out of the savings of his eighteen years of 
steady work, which was to be the basis of his busi- 
ness and the amassing of still greater wealth in the 
New World. While in Philadelphia he had the mis- 
fortune to lose his wife by death. His partner in Phila- 
delphia, as has been before stated, was Robert Morris, 
Jr., son of the illustrious banker of that name, who, 
next to Washington, did more, perhaps, to bring suc- 
cess to the cause of the American colonies in the strug- 
gle for independence than any other man in the country. 
Their manufactory was called the Eagle Iron Works, 
wherein they did a general foundry and machine busi- 
ness; but their specialty was the making of cannon 
for the War Department. They did not, however, re- 
main together very long. Foxall severed his connec- 
tion with Morris in 1800, and in the same year came to 
Georgetown, in the District of Columbia, where he 
built the Columbian Foundry, of which he was sole 
proprietor, continuing as such and in the making of 
cannon, cannon shot, and gun carriages for the General 
Government until 1815, when he sold the property and 
good-will to General John Mason. In 1816, after sub- 
stantially settling up all his affairs, he left Georgetown 
for England, where he married a second time, he being 
then 58 years of age.* He subsequently returned to 
Georgetown, but in 1823 he again visited his native 
country, residing at Handsworth, near Birmingham. 
There he died December 11, 1823, in the 66th year of 
his age. 

Before he went to Ireland Foxall, as we have learned, 

* In a paper prepared by one of the grandsons of Mr. Foxall, herein- 
before referred to, the allegation is made that the second marriage of 
Foxall took place in Philadelphia, in December, 1700, his wife being 
a widow, Margaret Smith, whose maiden name was Heberton, sister- 
in-law of Matthew Newkirk, one of the merchant princes of Phila- 
delphia. 



26 The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 

was not of a religious turn of mind. Though a believer 
in Christianity, he was of cheerful, sociable, and rather 
fashionable inclinations; and he indulged during his 
moments of leisure in such worldly pleasures as came 
his way that were not noticeably tinctured with im- 
morality or bad taste. But after a short residence in 
Ireland he was converted, under the influence of the 
Methodists— but mainly through the persuasions of his 
wife— his change of heart being so pronounced that he 
began to publicly preach, under authority of the so- 
ciety, as an exhorter or lay minister— an ecclesiastical 
function which he continued to exercise up to the day 
of his death. It is said that by this course, and by his 
consistent refusal to join any longer in questionable 
secular amusements, particularly on the Sabbath Day, 
he seriously offended a number of his wealthy friends 
and patrons, with whom he had been a social favorite. 
Notwithstanding this conversion, however, he was far 
from being an unreasonable or fanatical devotee; and 
after he came to America he gave abundant evidence 
of large liberality of thought, and of almost entire free- 
dom from puritanical austerity. It was his custom, 
however, to have in his house daily family prayer— a 
practice then almost universal among Methodists, and 
it is to be hoped not yet wholly abandoned ; but he liked 
innocent gayety, was quite hospitable, enjoyed the 
pleasures of the table, was fond of music, and dearly 
loved the society of even worldly people of virtue, edu- 
cation, and refinement. The story goes that around 
the social board at his house were not infrequently 
gathered such men as Thomas Jefferson, James Madi- 
son, James Monroe, Henry Dearborn, Gouverneur 
Morris, Francis S. Key, General John Mason, Christo- 
pher Hughes, John S. Skinner, and many others of local 
and national reputation. He and Mr. Jefferson, it is 



The Foxall Common Foundry. 27 

said, were on particularly intimate and friendly terms, 
on account of their innate sympathy and congeniality 
of thought, as well as by reason of similarity of tastes, 
each being somewhat devoted to architecture and 
music, and both being natural mechanics. Music was 
their pet diversion. This is not infrequently a sort of 
safety-valve with busy men ; Jean Paul, you know, says 
that besides Frederick the Great's baton of command 
always lay his flute. Still, in spite of all these things, 
which some severe religionists might call trivialities, 
Mr. Foxall was really a devout man, and perfectly true 
to his religious convictions. He was an unswerving 
believer in the immortality of the soul, and in the 
Scriptures; but like many other believers, he did not 
rely for his faith on books alone: he could plainly 
see God's hand and his promise of the resurrection 
in every green leaf bourgeoning through every spring- 
time.* He was a faithful member of the Methodist 
Society of Georgetown ; he was a trustee and a staunch 
friend, financially and otherwise, of the first Meth- 
odist Church in Washington — the old Ebenezer 
Church, later known as Fourth Street Church, in 
that section of the city known as the Navy Yard 
Hill ; he built a church for the colored people of George- 
town, and gave them the ground on which the church 
stood; he was also a liberal helper of other denomina- 
tions and of public charities ; but his most conspicuous 
act of religious duty and Christian philanthropy was 
the gift of a valuable piece of ground in Washington, 
almost within stone's throw of the President's House 
—on the northeast corner of Fourteenth and G streets 

* Some of the particulars of Mr. Foxall's belief, of his manners, 
his character, and his style of living, were communicated to me 
years ago by Judge James Lawrenson, who obtained his information 
partly from his own observation, but mainly from an intimate friend, 
John S. Skinner, of Baltimore, Md. 



2 8 The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 

—and the erection thereon, at his own expense, of a 
substantial brick edifice, called the Foundry Chapel, 
wherein was accommodated continuously for thirty- 
five years afterwards the first Methodist congregation 
organized in the city of Washington west of the Capitol. 
This church was donated and named, tradition has it, 
because of Foxall 's gratitude to the Almighty for the 
preservation of the Columbian Foundry during the oc- 
cupation of the city by the British army in 1814. The 
motive thus assigned for the building of the church 
is no doubt correct; for Foxall, like most truly re- 
ligious men, was no doubt disposed to look upon 
everything as a special providence that worked for 
either his moral or material good, and he could there- 
fore see no inconsistency in the failure of God to inter- 
pose his power to protect the Capitol and the other 
national buildings, and the sending of the thunder- 
storm that saved the foundry from destruction. But 
as to the bestowal of the name, the biographer of Fox- 
all says positively that the chapel was opened by 
Bishop Asbury, who gave it its name in commemora- 
tion of John Wesley's Foundry Chapel in London.* 
On one occasion Foxall gave a jocular answer to a 
friend's criticism on the inconsistency of his making 
cannon and the founding of this church: "No doubt," 
said he, "you have some reason for thinking I have 
sinned in turning out all these grim instruments of 
death; but don't you think, therefore, that I should 
do something to save the souls of those who escape?" 
Seriously speaking, he really hated war. In his own 
life, which was free from all strife and contention, 

* There seems to be a conflict between this statement and that 
made in a pamphlet issued in 1904 by the Foundry Church trustees, 
wherein it is said that the Church of 1814 was dedicated by Rev. 
Nicholas Snithen, former pastor of the Georgetown Methodist Church, 
of which Mr. Foxall was a member. 




First Foundry Chapel. 

14th and G Streets, Washington, D. C. 

Built by Henry Foxall. 




Second Foundry Church. 
14th and G Streets N. W., Washington, D. C. 



The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 29 

lie illustrated his love of peace ; and he ardently hoped 
that the time would come when nation would not battle 
with nation any more. But as a man of strong com- 
mon sense he knew that in the state of society then 
existing war would almost inevitably sometimes occur, 
and that the American people, to preserve their inde- 
pendence and maintain their rights and their self- 
respect, should keep themselves prepared for it. He 
believed that when a man is to start out on a journey 
through a place of danger, he should arm himself, at 
least, with a stout cudgel, not for the purpose of at- 
tacking other people, but to protect himself from 
attack. 

The building thus given by Foxall in 1814 was 
changed in 1848 to a larger one of somewhat more 
modern style on the same site, which was torn down 
in 1864 in order to erect in its place a still handsomer 
structure. This in its turn was sold and demolished in 
1902, to make way for the large office building now 
known as the Colorado. The congregation then estab- 
lished itself temporarily in other quarters, and finally 
in 1904, it settled in and now occupies a new and beauti- 
ful stone edifice on the southwest corner of Sixteenth 
and Madison Streets, which is one of the most notable 
and convenient church buildings in Washington. This 
costly edifice may be properly regarded as the gift 
of Mr. Foxall, the money used in its erection having 
been realized out of the increased value of the ground 
given by him in 1814. Very different is this palatial 
pile from the modest brick meeting-house erected by 
Mr. Foxall; but the true spirit of Christianity in its 
simplicity still exists in this new church, as it did in 
his day. I am told that the members cherish yet a 
feeling of love and gratitude for their early benefactor, 
and that in many ways they endevor to keep his 



30 The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 

memory green. Evidently, after the beautiful idea of 
some fine writer, who truly says, ' ' Our dead are never 
dead to us until they are forgotten," these people in- 
tend that he shall live always; for in addition to his 
enshrinement in their hearts, they have placed in the 
vestibule of their church an enduring bronze tablet on 
which is recorded an expression of their appreciation 
of his brotherly munificence. 

He gave liberally also to the Wesleyans of England, 
and by his will he bequeathed $5,000 to their foreign 
missionary society. Notwithstanding this instance of 
his generosity, however, it should be recorded that he 
loved most to do good to missions and charities and 
other church work at home. The great faculty of his 
practical mind was not to see dimly what lay at a dis- 
tance, but to do what was clearly at hand. He realized, 
in other words, that in his own modest quest for the 
Holy Grail he was not to find it, after the manner of 
Sir Galahad, by wandering into other lands, or by fur- 
nishing to others the means of doing so for him; he 
knew, as Sir Launfal finally came to know, that by 
proper effort and with the right spirit, he could find 
this inestimable treasure right at his own gate. 

The further disposition of his property by will also 
shows his sense of justice and liberality. He provided 
a double home, in the city and in the country, for his 
wife, and settled upon her for life, in addition, a fund 
that would provide her with an annual income of over 
$2,200; he made provision for the support, education, 
and permanent estate of such children as he might have 
by her ; he gave to his nephew, Henry Foxall, son of his 
late brother Joseph, of Kettley Iron Works, Shrop- 
shire, England, one thousand dollars, and the same 
amount to his niece, Ann Burton, daughter of his de- 
ceased sister, Mary Jordan, of Birmingham, and to his 



SB ,_J 

3 o 

2- G 

5! § 



a* r, 

ore G 

„ 3 S 





New Foundry M. E. Church. 16th and Madison Streets, Washington, 
I). C Dedicated April 10, 1904. 



The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 31 

friend, Miss Naney Baker, of Baltimore, Maryland. 
He also gave $5,000 to the charter fund of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, and to the 
Methodist Church in Georgetown a lot of ground on 
Montgomery Street, 30 by 120 feet, together with the 
dwelling-house thereon, to serve always as a parsonage. 
To his five executors he left $500 apiece, and bestowed 
all the residue of his property on certain trustees for 
the benefit of his daughter by his first marriage, Mary 
Ann, wife of Samuel McKenney. 

Of the two wives of Mr. Foxall little is known, but 
we may reasonably assume that they were both good 
women. Certainly his first wife, his helpmeet in the 
struggles of his early manhood, made him a happy and 
beautiful home. By her he had five children, three of 
whom— a son and two daughters— died abroad in in- 
fancy. The other two were brought to America— John, 
who became blind in his early childhood, born in Ire- 
land, August 16, 1786, died in Georgetown January 25, 
1809— and Mary Ann, born in Ireland, September 20, 
1791, who married, as we have seen, Samuel McKenney, 
a merchant of Georgetown, and who died in Georgetown 
August 23, 1856. By his second wife Mr. Foxall had 
no offspring. Of Mrs. McKenney 's eight children, one 
daughter died in infancy, and her three sons died un- 
married. Of her daughters, the eldest married Wm. 
McKenney Osborn, her cousin, by whom she had nine 
children, four of whom only are now living, viz., Mrs. 
Mary H. Shoemaker, widow of George Shoemaker, with 
children and grandchildren; Wm. McKenney Osborn, 
Jr. ; and Miss Sarah Osborn. 

The next daughter of Mrs. McKenney, Sarah, mar- 
ried Philip T. Berry, by whom she had six children, 
only two of whom are now alive, viz., Miss Margaret 
Ann Berry and Miss Marian Berry ; but one of the sons, 

3 



32 The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 

Philip T. Berry, Jr., was married, and all of his five 
children and one grandchild are living. 

The two remaining daughters of Mrs. McKenney, 
Mary and Annette Foxall McKenney, were married to 
Dr. Chas. H. Cragin, and had, the first wife, four chil- 
dren, and the second wife, two. Of these only three 
are now alive, Miss Mary Foxall Cragin and Chas. H. 
Cragin, Jr., children of the first wife, and Edith A., 
daughter of the second wife and widow of Lieutenant 
Chas. M. McCartney, of the United States Army. Mr. 
Chas. H. Cragin, Jr.,* married Elizabeth N. Addison in 
1875, and has two children and two grandchildren. 
Mrs. McCartney has three children— two sons and one 
daughter. 

Altogether there are thirty living descendants of Mr. 
Foxall. 

As to his ancestors Mr. Foxall was evidently not 
very communicative: at any rate, little is now known 
of them beyond what is hereinbefore stated of his par- 
ents. But however honorable his descent may have 
been, or however far back he may have been able to 
trace it, he knew he could derive no credit or benefit 
from it, and therefore he probably cared little about the 
matter. No pictures or other memorials of even his 
parents have been handed down to his posterity; 
though as to that he must have felt, as nearly every 
successful, high-toned, self-respecting man has felt, 
that his own mirror was better than a whole gallery 
of ancestral portraits. Besides, whatever his progeni- 
tors might have been, he himself was without doubt 
entitled to the love and respect of his fellowmen, and 
worthy, accordingly, to be regarded as the founder of 

* To Mr. Cragin, who is a well-known lawyer of Washington, and 
to his sister, Mrs. McCartney, the writer of this paper is indebted for 
much interesting and valued information. 






T 



Hi ORIGINAL FOUNDRY 111 Kill rWFJttY 
^T.lf« AND G STREETS; NOKTJBWESX 
WAS GIVEN BY 

HENRY POX ALL, 

OF BLESSED MEMORY, 

IS A THANK- OFFERING TO GOD FOR THE 

'RESERVATION OF HIS FOUNDRY. AT GEORGETOWN, 

IN THE WAR OF 1812. 

AND WAS SO NAMED BECAUSE OF THIS lAd 
AM) OEJOIIXlYESLEYS OLD FOUNDRY 
IN "LONDON. ENGLAND. 
THE FIRST CHURCH WAS DEDICATED A. I). 1813. 
!AV CHURCH ON Till: SAM!: SHE 
WAS DEDICATED A.D.I86& 
THE PROPERTY WAS bOLD A.IU902, 
AM) THE PRiM EEDS WERE USED EOK 
THE ITRCIINSE (if Till: PR I 
THE EKEi |]((\ THEK1 
iinrsi-' nE vvt>i 






Bronze Tablet in the vestibule of the New Founds? If. E. Chdbcb, 

16th and Madison Streets, Washington, D. C. Ereoted 

to the memory of Henry Foxall, founder of 

the first Church. 



The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 33 

his family. ' * The best gentleman, ' ' says Victor Hugo, 
"is he who is the son of his own deserts, and not the 
degenerate heir of another 's virtue. ' ' In more respects 
than one was Mr. Foxall to be known as a gentleman : 
he was always considerate of other people, which is one 
of the most charming characteristics of the true gen- 
tleman; he was free from coarseness of thought or 
language, which invariably differentiates the gentle- 
man from his opposite; and he had that serenity of 
mien— that freedom from undue sensitiveness and quar- 
relsomeness—that nearly always indicates the man of 
real nobility. According to the reports that have come 
down to us, he reminds one of the remark of Emerson: 
"We sometimes meet an original gentleman, who, if 
manners had not existed, would have invented them." 
He united to the most polished courtliness absolute sin- 
cerity and veracity. As Geoffrey of Monmouth says 
of Aurelius, "Above all things, he hated a lie." He 
had, moreover, such an amount of stamina or self- 
control as enabled him to take the initiative in all emer- 
gencies—an aplomb which grew out of a naturally good 
adjustment of his moral and physical nature, and his 
ability to place all his powers in obedience to his will. 
Madame de Stael says that the English constantly irri- 
tated Napoleon, because they had found out how to 
unite success with honesty. In this matter, Foxall re- 
sembled his countrymen, and he carried this spirit of 
honesty to its utmost limit. That is to say, whatever 
he undertook he did well ; so that in the making of can- 
non, for example, he put in his best thought and the 
best of iron, and consequently we have the official testi- 
mony of an expert that his guns were the best that 
were made. 

It was remarked by some people in his day that he 
might have succeeded in worldly matters much better 



34 The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 

even than he did by the ownership and the use of slaves, 
as nearly all his friends and neighbors did. But he 
thought differently. He had the Englishman's dislike 
of slavery ; and he belonged to a church which, thanks 
to the courage and conscience of John Wesley, con- 
demned the holding of men in bondage. All his ser- 
vants were accordingly hired, and their service honor- 
ably and liberally paid for.* 

As a citizen Mr. Foxall was highly appreciated by 
all who knew him. He was naturalized in 1803, soon 
after he came to Georgetown; subsequently he became 
a prominent actor in many undertakings of a public 
nature, in addition to his foundry business. He was 
a director in one of the city banks ; was the owner of a 
large bakery, the superintendency of which was in- 
trusted to his son-in-law ; was a trustee and conspicuous 
stockholder in the Georgetown Importing and Export- 
ing Company— a prosperous concern that owned four 
or five ocean ships, and did a business with many parts 
of the world ; was the owner of quite a number of houses 
and other property in Georgetown, among which was 
Foxall 's Bow; was a helper to some extent in the build- 
ing up of the Capital City, being an investor in its 
unimproved lots; and from 1821 to 1823 he was the 
mayor of Georgetown, and filled the office with dignity 
and credit. In all his enterprises, and in every public 
position held by him, he seems to have been actuated 
by a spirit of shrewdness, progress, and philanthropy, 

* Quite a different statement is made by Mr. Foxall's grandson in 
the paper heretofore quoted. He says that his grandfather owned 
slaves, but that he really hated slavery. His motive in this ownership, 
however, was purely humanitarian. He wished to help the negroes. 
He treated them with great kindness, and would never allow families 
to be separated. The old slaves he kept in comfort until they died; the 
young ones he gave useful occupation and training, and when able to 
shift for themselves he manumitted them. 




2 p 

rt o 

ft « 

W fcuo 



o „ 

g bO 



The Fox all Cannon Foundry. 35 

and to have been generally beloved. He derived much 
of his happiness, besides the good will of his fellowmen, 
from activity. His course was like that of the little 
creek that formed part of his manufacturing plant:— 
not a sluggish or motionless pool, but a running stream, 
full of brightness and usefulness. During his whole 
life in Georgetown, no man was better known or better 
liked than he. His successful intercourse with the 
public men of his day is in itself a very strong testi- 
mony of his general merits; for "he who can enjoy the 
intimacy of the great, and on no occasion disgust them 
by his familiarity or disgrace them by servility, proves 
that he is as perfect a gentleman by nature as his com- 
panions may be by rank. ' ' 

"While in Georgetown Mr. Foxall had two residences 
—one a country house and the other a city mansion. 
Both these houses are still standing. The first is in a 
beautiful situation— part of the original Foxall pur- 
chases—on the heights just north of the foundry, a 
little to the west of the astronomical observatory of 
Georgetown University, and having an entrance to the 
grounds from Foxall Eoad. Previously to its purchase 
by Foxall it was occupied by General James M. Lingan. 
It is said to have been a lovely spot in its early days, 
and must be still a delightful place of residence, over- 
looking as it does the city, the canal, the Virginia hills, 
the Aqueduct Bridge and the river for many miles dis- 
tant. The title to this part of the Foxall estate, which 
is known as Spring Hill, has never passed out of the 
family. It is owned by Mr. Cragin and his sister, Mrs. 
McCartney, though they do not reside there.* The 
town-house stands on what is now called Thirty-fourth 
Street. It was at one time, after the building of the 
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, used as the business head- 

* It has, however, heen recently sold — January 27, 1908. 



36 The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 

quarters of that company. Although it is in a fair 
state of preservation still, it is in a very undesirable 
part of the city, and is a sad relic of ancient grandeur. 
This house when occupied by its founder presented an 
elegant appearance — a large and beautiful portico in 
front, balconies on the sides and rear, and with notice- 
able ornamentation. It was on a green hillside sloping 
down to a place on the river known as West Landing — 
the stream at that point being quite picturesque and 
unmarred by any unsightliness. The house was sur- 
rounded by beautiful gardens ; and its environment— its 
tout ensemble— w els inviting and aristocratic. Pic- 
tures of both houses, as well as of another, built by 
Foxall for his daughter, Mrs. McKenney, are here 
reproduced. 

In person Mr. Foxall was a little below the medium 
height; but he was compactly built, athletic, broad- 
shouldered, and "firm on his pins." His face was 
quite pleasing, and denoted decision of character, quick 
perception, and great determination. His ordinary 
dress was plain, of dark material and not noticeable. 
When he was in the pulpit, however, (for he not infre- 
quently preached,) his dress was rather elegant, the 
material being rich black velvet, with white muslin 
neckwear, black silk stockings, low shoes and silver 
buckles. His idea in the matter seemed to be that an 
ordinary dress was unbefitting a minister of the Gospel 
in the exercise of his high functions. 

Mr. Foxall 's will, which was probably drawn up by 
William Redin, an English attorney at one time promi- 
nent in Washington and Georgetown, and still remem- 
bered by many of our old citizens, is given as an appen- 
dix to this paper. As before said, it presents some 
features of the testator's good sense, liberality, and 
fairness: and it is also an illustration— almost a curi- 



ft 



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o pi 
$ 2 

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o 
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b- a 

O •Z 
SO 



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p «5 

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The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 37 

osity, one might say, in this respect— of the old-time 
tendency of lawyers to multiply words in the framing 
of legal documents, and thus, in the effort to make 
things clear, to make them by prolixity almost ridicu- 
lously vague. 

Supplement to Article on Foxall Cannon Foundry. 



No. 1. — Extract from Eeport of Committee on Military Af- 
fairs of the House of Representatives, submitted by its 
Chairman, Hon. Richard M. Johnson, May 12, 1836. 
"There is an establishment on this site of long standing, 
called the Columbian Foundry, for the casting and finishing 
cannon and other munitions for the government before ad- 
verted to, owned by General Mason. Of it the following state- 
ment is made by General Wool and Colonel Talcott, in 
their report to the Secretary of "War, and it is believed quite 
correctly: 'The establishment offers buildings and fixtures, in 
a state of preparation for the annual manufacture of about 
three hundred heavy guns, with a corresponding number of 
shot, etc. The capacity of this foundry may be considerably 
increased by the addition of buildings and the use of water 
from the canal. It now operates with a small power derived 
exclusively from other sources, which may be preserved and 
used when the supply from the canal happens to be inter- 
rupted. The buildings and fixtures being now in a state for 
use, operations on a moderate scale may be commenced im- 
mediately. ' 

"The area of this site, it is understood, is of something more 
than seven acres, including the canal, which passes directly 
through it for the distance of about eight hundred feet; ex- 
clusive of the canal there are about six acres; it binds on the 
river, and has water deep enough for large vessels touching 
it for about seven hundred feet, part of which is now wharfed, 
and the whole extent may readily be so prepared at a moder- 
ate expense, the materials being at hand. Immediately ad- 



38 The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 

joining this tract, binding on its western side for its whole 
extent, and bordering on the river for a considerable distance, 
pervaded also by the canal, is a tract of land belonging to the 
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, containing some ten 
or more acres, on which has been constructed waste-gates, dis- 
charging large quantities of water on the river side from the 
canal above the line of navigation in it, capable of use as a 
power to considerable extent. This tract, with the water 
power at the waste-gates, may be purchased if desirable. 

"The committee, believing that it is not to the interest of 
the government to do more at this time than to establish a 
foundry on a moderate scale, for the purposes before ad- 
verted to, but to leave to the private foundries now engaged 
in its service to furnish the greater part of the supplies 
wanted, under the checks and regulations which, by the means 
proposed, it may "be found expedient to adopt in its contracts 
with them, are of opinion that probably the area of the pres- 
ent site of the Columbian Foundry might be sufficient; but 
if thought requisite, certainly with the addition of that of 
the land adjoining just described, making together sixteen 
acres or more, exclusive of the canal that passes through 
them, would be of great abundance for the object contem- 
plated. 

"They have had communications from the proprietor of 
the Columbian Foundry, and after same modification of his 
terms, he has agreed to receive the sum of seventy-five thou- 
sand dollars for the whole establishment as it now stands, 
including as well the land and water-power from the natural 
stream, as all the buildings, machinery, implements, tools, 
etc., a description of which, furnished by him, is annexed, 
which is deemed by the committee, considering all its re- 
sources and advantages, a reasonable price, as they do the 
sum of ten thousand dollars for the hereinbefore described 
tract adjoining, including the water power from the waste 
gates, which it is understood the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal 
Company are willing to accept for it. And they recommend 
the purchase of the Columbian Foundry and appurtenances, 




Residence of Mrs. McCartney. 

Dumbarton Street, Georgetown, D. C. Built by Henry Foxall 

for his daughter, Mrs. Samuel McKenny. 



The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 39 

at a sum not exceeding seventy-five thousand dollars, as also, 
if deemed expedient by the President, of the said adjoining 
tract, at a sum not exceeding ten thousand dollars." 



No. 2. — General Description of the Buildings, Machinery, 

Implements, Tools, &c, at the Columbian Foundry. 

"A capacious and lofty casting-house of stone, containing 
four large air furnaces, with double stacks; an extensive 
moulding-floor; deep pit for casting cannon vertically; dry- 
ing-room, with iron doors, for baking gun-moulds ; three pow- 
erful cranes, fitted with the requisite iron pinions, sheaves, 
and chains ; a room for preparing moulding materials ; iron 
railway and carriage for moving guns in and out of the dry- 
ing-room; railway and carriage for transporting the same 
from the casting-house to the boring-mill. 

"A stone building adjoining the above, containing a cupola 
furnace, bellows, with horizontal wheel and machinery for 
working it, and a casting-floor. 

"Two large stone mill-houses for boring cannon, both hav- 
ing four floors, including the basement stories, fitted with 
large water-wheels, enclosed in tight water chambers to secure 
their continued running in time of frost, geared throughout 
with iron ; one mill containing four frames, and the other five, 
for boring cannon, provided with all requisite railways, ad- 
vancing carriages, racks, levers, rods, bits, and other tools for 
boring and turning cannon of all dimensions. Attached to 
the shafts of one of the water-wheels is a complete set of 
machinery for cutting the heavy screws and nuts of the tran- 
soms for iron gun-carriages; and in the interior is a set of 
machinery for cutting large flat-threaded screws. In the 
same mill-house is geared, and worked by water power, ma- 
chinery for turning the trunnions of guns; and three large 
lathes for turning gun patterns; iron shot-moulds, and other 
work of iron and wood, besides a foot-lathe. On the exterior, 
against one of the walls, is fitted a machine, with iron sheave 
and chains, for breaking up, by means of heavy drops, old 



40 The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 

cannon and other massive castings, so as to accommodate the 
fragments for reception and fusion in the furnace. In both 
boring-mills are laid, on heavy horizontal timbers extending 
through the houses, on the second story, and thence into the 
yard, iron railways and truck-carriages, for moving and hoist- 
ing cannon in and out of the boring-frame ; and in both are, 
in the second stories, extensive carpenters' shops for prepar- 
ing patterns, flasks, &c. ; and garret stories for storing and 
preserving patterns and utensils; and basement stories for 
receiving, as they fall from the guns, and storing, the gun 
borings. 

"Adjoining the upper mill-house is a frame building, used 
in connection with it for the purposes before mentioned. 

"There are two capacious blacksmiths' or forging shops, 
one of stone and the other of brick ; and a third, of wood, and 
smaller, all provided with the necessary apparatus and tools. 

"There is a row of convenient sheds, divided into rooms, 
some closed, and some open on one side, for cleaning and 
storing castings, and for receiving and preparing clay and 
sand for the furnaces, moulding, &c; and other sheds for 
laying away cannon and storing materials. 

"There are two office rooms with fireplaces, one near the 
lower and one at the upper mill, for superintendent and 
clerks. 

"Two brick dwelling-houses for workmen, one with four 
and the other with three rooms. 

"Among the quantity and variety of implements, tools, 
&c, are: 

"A swing-cart, with high and substantial wheels, with lever 
ratchet and chains for taking up and moving heavy cannon. 

"A carriage, with four iron wheels, for moving light 
cannon. 

"A gin and dearborn steelyards for weighing cannon, &c, 
&c. 

"Machine, geared with iron sheave and clasp tongs, for 
dropping and proving shot. 

"A number of cast-iron flasks, their parts secured with 



The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 41 

wrought-iron bands, clasps, pins, &c, for moulding and cast- 
ing cannon, carronades, gunades, howitzers, mortars, mortar- 
beds, &c, of every description, from the largest to the smallest 
calibre; a quantity of iron shot-moulds of all sizes; a great 
collection of patterns for guns of every sort; shells, grape 
and canister shot, &c, &c, and for wheels and machinery of 
all kinds. 

"A large parcel of wooden flasks, iron-clasped, of various 
sizes and forms, for moulding and casting in green sand large 
and small work; and all the requisite implements and tools 
for carrying on the work extensively, as gauges, rods, scales, 
weights, blacksmiths' tools, carpenters' tools, grindstones, 
kettles, ladles, skimmers, sledges, crowbars, hammers, gun- 
chisels, rubbers, spades, shovels, &c, &c." 



No. 3. — Last Will and Testament of Henry Foxall, of George- 
town, in the District of Columbia. 

''First. I do hereby ratify and confirm in every respect 
the settlement made upon my marriage with my dear wife 
Catherine,* and do direct the provisions and trusts of the 
same, and the condition of the bond entered into by me upon 
my said marriage, to be faithfully performed and observed. 
"I do further direct that if the sum of thirty-seven thou- 
sand and thirty-eight dollars, secured to be paid to the trus- 
tees of said settlement, should at any time and from time to 
time be found insufficient to raise within these United States, 
and bring into the hands of the said trustees of said settle- 
ment there, the clear annual sum of two thousand two hun- 
dred and twenty-two dollars and twenty-two cents, the an- 
nuity secured to be paid to my said wife by the said settle- 
ment, then and in such case the trustees of this my will do 
and shall from time to time transfer to themselves, as trus- 
tees of said settlement, out of the residuum of my estate, such 
sum or sums of money as may from time to time be found 

* In a paper hereinbefore referred to, written by Mr. Foxall's grand- 
son, the name of his wife is given as Margaret. This, of course, must 
be a mistake. 



42 The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 

necessary to make up any deficiency there may happen to be 
between the current amount of the interest and produce of 
the said principal sum, and the amount of said annuity, so 
as that in no event less than the said sum of $2,222.22 shall 
be annually raised for my said wife or for her benefit within 
the United States. 

"Also I give and bequeath unto my said wife the legacy 
or sum of $500, to be paid to her as soon after my decease as 
conveniently can be, over and above the provisions made for 
her benefit by the said settlement, and as a provision for her 
support until the enjoyment of such provisions shall accrue 
to her. 

"Also I do further give and bequeath to her the plate which 
shall be in my dwelling-house at the time of my decease, and 
which hath been or may be purchased by me during our in- 
termarriage, for her own use absolutely, except such part 
thereof as is hereinafter bequeathed to my granddaughter. 

"Also I give to her the use of all my servants during the 
remainder of their time of servitude.* 

"And whereas in and by the said settlement, my dwelling- 
house in Georgetown is limited to my said wife in the event 
of her surviving me, for and during the term of her natural 
life or residence therein, now I do hereby authorize my said 
wife either to select and choose for her place of residence my 
farm in "Washington County near Georgetown called Spring 
Hill, in the place and stead of my dwelling-house in George- 
town, or to continue the occupation and enjoyment of both 
the said residences, my dwelling-house in Georgetown as a 
winter and the said farm as a summer residence, the same as 
they have heretofore been occupied and enjoyed by myself. 
And in either event, I do give and devise my said farm called 
Spring Hill, with all the buildings, rights, and appurtenances 
thereto belonging, (subject to the water privileges sold to 
John Mason, Esquire,) unto my said wife, to be occupied and 
enjoyed by her in the place of my said dwelling-house in 
Georgetown, or with the same, and for the same term and 

* This clause indicates that, as hereinbefore stated, Mr. Foxall owned 
no slaves, but hired his servants. 



The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 43 

time — my desire being to promote the personal comfort of my 
said wife, and that the occupation by her of said residence 
shall be as mine has been, and that the lands, building, and 
appurtenances belonging to the same shall be used, managed, 
and enjoyed by her personally in the same manner as they 
have been by me for a residence and retreat merely. And if 
my said wife shall not choose to continue the occupation of 
both said residences, but shall select and choose Spring Hill 
in the place and stead of my dwelling-house in Georgetown, 
then my said dwelling-house shall form part of the residuum 
of my estate hereinafter devised; and if my said wife, after 
any such selection and choice, leave these United States and 
return to England, and such may possibly be her desire,) 
or cease to reside at my said farm called Spring Hill, then I 
do direct that the same shall vest in the person or persons 
to whom the same is hereinafter limited upon the events here- 
inafter expressed. 

"And I do declare that my bookcase and books therein 
shall be considered as forming a part of the household furni- 
ture which is limited to my said wife by said settlement; and 
if she shall choose to continue the occupation of both said 
residences, I do give and bequeath to her all my furniture 
and other household effects in both my said residences, not 
included in said settlement, to be held, used, and enjoyed by 
her in such and the same manner and upon the same terms 
and for the same time as the said furniture and other house- 
hold effects included in said settlement; but if my said wife 
shall choose Spring Hill in the place and stead of my said 
dwelling-house in Georgetown, then I do invest my said wife 
with full power to take and remove such part of my furniture 
and other household effects in my said dwelling-house and 
carry the same with her to Spring Hill, to be held and en- 
joyed by her in the same manner in every respect as the fur- 
niture and other household goods in my said dwelling-house; 
and as to such part thereof as she should not remove to Spring 
Hill, I do direct that the same shall sink into and form part 
of the residuum of my estate. 



44 The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 

"And as to the said principal sum of $37,038, stipulated to 
be raised and paid to the trustees of my marriage settlement, 
I do hereby give and bequeath the same and every part 
thereof, after the death of my said wife, unto all and every 
my child and children by my said wife Catherine that may 
be living at the time of her decease, equally to be divided 
between them, share and share alike if more than one, and if 
but one, then to such only one, to and for his and their own 
use and benefit. And if any or more of any such children 
shall happen to die during the life of my said wife, or after 
her death, but before the age or ages at which he, she, or 
they would be capable of disposing of his or their interest 
therein, without leaving issue surviving him or them, then I 
do direct that the share or shares of such child or children so 
dying shall go to and vest in the survivor or survivors of 
them, in such and the same manner as his, or her, or their 
share or shares; but if any such child or children should die 
before my said wife, or afterwards, but before the age or ages 
aforesaid, leaving a child or children surviving him, her, or 
them, then the child or children of him, her, or them so dying 
shall take the share or shares, portion or portions, of his, her, 
or their parent or parents. And in the event of a total fail- 
ure of child or children by my said wife, or of the issue of 
any such that may happen to die, then I do direct that the 
said principal sum of thirty-seven thousand and thirty-eight 
dollars shall, after the death of my said wife, sink into and 
form a part of the residuum of my estate, to be paid, applied, 
and disposed of as hereinafter is directed in respect of the 
same. 

"And I do hereby further direct that my child or children 
by my said wife, if any, shall be maintained, educated, and 
supported out of the residuum of my estate, and that the trus- 
tees of this my will hereinafter appointed do and shall from 
time to time pay and allow thereout unto my said wife, such 
compensation for the maintenance, education, and support of 
such child or children as may be just and proper ; it being my 
will and desire that any such child or children shall reside 



The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 45 

with my said wife wheresoever her residence may be, and shall 
be under her guardianship and control exclusively, and be 
brought up and educated by her at the cost of my estate, as 
aforesaid, until their respective ages, if a boy, of twenty-one, 
and if a girl, of eighteen. 

"And if such child shall attain his or her age of twenty-one 
years or eighteen years in the lifetime of my said wife, then 
I do direct the trustees of this my will to raise out of the 
residuum of my estate, and pay unto such child, if a son, the 
annuity or yearly sum of two thousand two hundred and 
twenty-two dollars and twenty-two cents, and if a daughter 
the annuity or yearly sum of eighteen hundred dollars, by 
equal or half-yearly payments, to commence at the respective 
age aforesaid, and to continue to be paid to him or her for 
and during the then residue of the life of my said wife, and 
immediately upon her death to cease and be void, when such 
child would become entitled to the said principal sum of 
thirty-seven thousand and thirty dollars. 

"And in the event of such child by my said wife being a 
son, then I do give and devise my said farm called Spring 
Hill, subject nevertheless to the provisions hereinbefore con- 
tained in relation to the same, unto and to the use of such 
child being a son, his heirs and assigns forever. 

"Also I give and bequeath unto my nephew, Henry Foxall, 
son of my late brother Joseph Foxall, late of Kettley Iron 
"Works, Shropshire, England, the sum of one thousand dollars; 
and to my niece, Ann Burton, widow of Henry Burton and 
daughter of my late sister, Mary Jordan, Lower Temple 
Street, Birmingham, the sum of one thousand dollars, which 
said legacies I direct my trustees hereinbefore named to pay 
to the said respective legatees thereof as soon as the same can 
conveniently be raised out of my estate, but without any sacri- 
fice being made thereof or of any part thereof, to effect the 
payment of the same, the said legacy to the said Ann Burton 
to bear interest from my decease, and to sink into and form 
a part of the residuum of my estate if she should happen to 
die before the said legacy shall be raised and paid to her as 
aforesaid. 



46 The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 

"And I give and bequeath unto my friend Miss Naney 
Baker, at Mr. Philip Moore's, Baltimore, the interest and 
annual produce of the principal sum of one thousand dollars, 
for her life, to be paid to her by half-yearly payments. 

"Also I give and bequeath unto the trustees of the charter 
fund of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia the 
sum of five thousand dollars. 

"Also I give and bequeath unto the Methodist Missionary 
Society, City Eoad Chapel, London, the sum of five thousand 
dollars. 

"And I do direct that my trustees do and shall pay the 
said two legacies last mentioned, either in the whole or in 
part, as soon after my death as conveniently can be, regard 
being had to what is my especial desire, that no part of my 
property may be exposed to sacrifice in order to accomplish 
the raising and payment of said legacies or either of them. 
And in the meantime, and until the whole of both of said leg- 
acies shall be fully paid, I do further direct that interest 
thereon, or upon such part thereof as may from time to time 
remain due and unpaid, shall be annually paid from the day 
of my death to the said trustees and the said society. And I 
do recommend the payment of said legacy to the Methodist 
Missionary Society to be made to or to the order of the said 
society within these United States, or in such other manner so 
that the payment of the legacy duty imposed by the laws of 
Great Britain may be saved and avoided. 

"Also I give and devise unto the trustees for the time being 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Georgetown, and their 
successors forever, a lot of ground situate in Georgetown 
aforesaid, fronting 30 feet on Montgomery Street, and run- 
ning back 120 feet, and adjoining the Methodist church, with 
the dwelling-house and improvements thereunto belonging, to 
be held by them in trust for and for the use and benefit of the 
resident Methodist minister in Georgetown and as a place of 
residence for him. And it is my particular request and de- 
sire, and I do hereby request and authorize and direct my 
trustees hereinafter named, and my heirs, to make and exe- 



The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 47 

cute all proper and reasonable deeds, assignments, and con- 
veyances to cure any defect in law there may be in the above 
bequests, so that the several and respective devises and be- 
quests for religious, charitable, and benevolent purposes above 
mentioned may be fairly, fully, and conscientiously applied to 
those purposes respectively, according to the plain under- 
standing, meaning, and intent thereof. 

"And if I shall leave no son living at the time of my death 
by my said wife, or born in due time afterwards, and subject 
to the power of selection and choice hereinbefore contained 
to and in favor of my said wife, I do give and devise, in the 
event of the failure of such issue, and from and after the 
death of my said wife, or her ceasing personally to occupy 
the same, or from and immediately after my own death, if 
my said wife shall not choose to occupy the same as aforesaid, 
my said farm called Spring Hill, together with all the build- 
ings, improvements, rights, and appurtenances thereto belong- 
ing, unto my friends Jacob Hoffman, of Alexandria, in the 
district aforesaid, David English, Walter Smith, and Leonard 
Mackall, all of Georgetown aforesaid, and their heirs, upon 
the trusts following, that is to say, in trust for my daughter 
Mary Ann McKenney, the wife of Samuel McKenney, of 
Georgetown aforesaid, for and during the term of her natural 
life, and to permit her and her family to reside at the said 
farm for the term aforesaid, if she should choose, the same for 
a place of residence ; and if she should prefer having the same 
let, then that my said trustees or trustee do and shall from 
time to time let the said farm, and receive the rents, issues, 
and profits thereof unto their or his own hands or hand, and 
pay and apply the same, as received from time to time, unto 
my said daughter Mary Ann McKenney, for her life as afore- 
said, for her sole and separate use, exclusive of the control 
of her husband, and not subject or liable to his debts or en- 
gagements in any manner howsoever. And I do declare that 
the receipt of my said daughter only shall be a discharge to 
my said trustees or trustee for the rent from time to time of 
the said farm called Spring Hill. And from and immediately 
4 



48 The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 

after the decease of my said daughter, I do declare that my 
trustees or trustee do and shall stand seized of and in the 
said farm, in trust for my grandson, Henry Foxall McKen- 
ney, the eldest son of my said daughter, his heirs and assigns 
forever, to whom I do give and devise the same accordingly, 
to be taken and enjoyed by him for his own exclusive benefit 
over and above the provisions hereinafter made for him as 
one of the children of my said daughter. 

"Also I do give and bequeath, over and above the provis- 
ions hereinafter made for my granddaughter Margaret Ann 
Foxall McKenney, unto and for her own use, such part of 
my family plate as is marked with the initials 'H. M. F.', 
and also two large silver cans or jugs not bearing that mark. 

"And, subject to the several devises and bequests herein- 
before contained, and to the contingencies and events upon 
which the possession and enjoyment of any part of my prop- 
erty hereinafter mentioned are to accrue and arise, and as 
the same shall lapse, fall into, and determine, I do give, devise, 
and bequeath unto the said Joseph Hoffman, David English, 
Walter Smith, and Leonard Mackall, their heirs, executors, 
and administrators, (subject as aforesaid,) all my property 
and estate, whether real, personal, or mixed, and whether in 
possession, reversion, remainder, or expectancy, both at law 
and in equity, and of what kind soever and wheresoever sit- 
uate, together with all and every the sum and sums of money 
and hereditaments hereinbefore mentioned, as the same may 
from time to time, and upon the events hereinbefore ex- 
pressed, fall into and become part of the residuum of my 
estate. To have, hold, receive, and take the same, and every 
of them and every part thereof, unto them the said Jacob 
Hoffman, David English, Walter Smith, and Leonard Mackall, 
their heirs, executors, and administrators, according to the 
nature of the same property and estate respectively, in trust 
that they, the said Jacob Hoffman, David English, Walter 
Smith, and Leonard Mackall, and the survivors or survivor 
of them, and the heirs, executors, and administrators of such 
survivor, until the new trustees or trustee hereinafter directed 



The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 49 

to be appointed shall be appointed from time to time, do and 
shall during the life of my said daughter, Mary Ann Mc- 
Kenney, and until her youngest child by the said Samuel 
McKenney shall attain his or her age of 21 years if my said 
daughter should happen to die before that event should take 
place, receive the rents, issues, and profits of the said real 
estate, and the interest, dividends, and proceeds of the said 
personal estate, and collect and get in the several sums of 
money due to me on mortgage or otherwise, and after paying 
the several charges hereinbefore mentioned, as the same may 
arise and become payable, and all reasonable expenses and 
costs, from time to time, do and shall invest such rents, inter- 
est, dividends, and moneys from time to time, as the same shall 
be received and got in, in the purchase of public stock or 
securities or other stock, or to loan the same out at interest 
on mortgage, or to apply the same or any part thereof to the 
improvement of the said real estate, belonging to the said 
trust fund, as they may judge best for the interest and advan- 
tage of the said trust fund; and with power for my trustees 
for the time being to sell and dispose of all or any part of 
the said real estate belonging to the said trust fund at any 
time and from time to time as they may judge best and most 
to the advantage of my estate, and to make and execute con- 
veyances to the purchaser or purchasers thereof, or of any 
part thereof, and to give receipt or receipts for the purchase 
money or moneys for the same, so as that the said purchaser 
or purchasers should not be liable to see to the application or 
answerable or accountable for the misapplication or non- 
application of the purchase money or moneys so paid by him, 
her, or them ; and to invest or employ the moneys to arise from 
such sale or sales, and the interest and produce thereof from 
time to time, in such manner as is hereinbefore directed in 
regard to the annual rents, dividends, and interest of my said 
estate, real and personal, and the moneys and debts so to be 
got in and collected upon my death, as aforesaid; and to sell 
the stock which may from time to time be In their hands, and 
to reinvest the produce thereof from time to time in improve- 



50 Tlie Foxall Cannon Foundry. 

merits as aforesaid, or in other stock, public or private, or in 
public or private securities, as aforesaid, and to change all 
and every the same security or securities, from time to time, 
and generally to manage said trust fund as they shall deem 
most for the advantage and interest of the same. Neverthe- 
less, with power for my said trustees from time to time during 
the life of my said daughter, Mary Ann McKenney, and in 
the event of her death before her youngest child by the said 
Samuel McKenney shall have attained his or her age of 21 
years, during the minority of her said child or children, if 
the situation and condition in life of my said daughter and 
her children should be such as to require, it, but not otherwise, 
to pay my said daughter, for her sole and separate use, exclu- 
sive of the control of her husband, and not subject or liable 
in any way to his debts or engagements, and in the event of 
her death, as aforesaid, to apply for the benefit of her said 
child or children, being minors as aforesaid, such sum or 
sums of money, out of the said annual rents, interest, or divi- 
dends, (and, subject to the charges hereinbefore made thereon, 
the whole thereof if they the said trustees should think it 
requisite,) as the necessities as aforesaid of my said daughter 
and her children, in the opinion of my said trustees, may 
require for their maintenance, education, and support ; but in 
no case for such purpose shall the principal of the said trust 
fund be diminished. And upon further trust that they my 
said trustees do and shall upon the death of my said daugh- 
ter, Mary Ann McKenney, if her youngest child by the said 
Samuel McKenney shall then have attained his or her age of 
twenty-one years, or as soon after my said daughter's death 
as her said youngest child shall attain that age, divide and 
distribute, (subject always to the charges hereinbefore made 
thereon and which in the events hereinbefore contemplated 
and expressed may accrue and arise, and if the same shall or 
may arise, my said trustees always retaining sufficient of the 
said trust funds to meet the same charges,) the said trust 
funds real, personal, and mixed, which shall be in their hands 
and of which they shall stand seized, unto, between, and amongst 



The Foxatt Cannon Foundry. 51 

the children of the said Mary Ann McKenney by the said 
Samuel McKenney, as well those living at the time of my 
death as those also which may be born afterwards, their heirs, 
executors, and administrators, share and share alike, as tenants' 
in common and not as joint tenants, and do and shall convey 
and assign the same to them accordingly, if more than one, 
and if but one, then the whole thereof to such one; and if 
any of the children of the said Mary Ann McKenney shall 
die previous to such division and distribution thereof with- 
out leaving a child or children surviving him or them, then 
my will is, that the survivor or survivors of them do and shall 
take the share or shares of him, her, or them so dying, in the 
same manner as his or her or their original share or shares ; 
but if any such child or children of my said daughter shall 
die before the division and distribution aforesaid leaving a 
child or children, then my will and desire is that the child or 
children of such child or children so dying shall take his, her, 
or their parent or parents' share or portion equally amongst 
them, if more than one; with further power, nevertheless, for 
my said trustees, if any of the children of my said daughter 
should come of age or be married or should enter into busi- 
ness previous to such division and distribution as aforesaid, 
to advance to such child or children such part of their share 
or portion of the said trust funds (subject as aforesaid) as 
my said trustees may deem prudent and expedient, anything 
hereinbefore contained to the contrary thereof in anywise 
notwithstanding. And if it shall happen that the said'Sam- 
uel McKenney shall die before my said daughter, and that she 
should marry again and have a child or children by and after 
taking husband, then I do hereby declare that any such child 
or children shall be placed and stand upon an equal footing 
in interest in every respect in the distribution and enjoyment 
of my property and estate with the child and children of my 
said daughter by the said Samuel McKenney; but my will is, 
and I do hereby direct, that the distribution of my said prop- 
erty and estate shall notwithstanding take place at the period 
hereinbefore named, that is, on the death of my said daughter, 



52 The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 

and when her youngest child by the said Samuel McKenney 
shall have attained his or her age of 21 years. And if at that 
period the several contingencies and events upon which my 
said property and estate are to become chargeable shall not 
have happened and become determined, then that my said 
trustees do and shall as the same shall happen, and as the 
said trust funds which they are hereby authorized to retain 
to meet the same shall lapse and fall in, divide and distribute 
the same from time to time, in manner hereinbefore expressed, 
amongst the several children of my said daughter, Mary Ann 
McKenney, hereinbefore named. 

"And whereas I am now carrying on a baking business in 
Georgetown under the care and superintendence of my said 
son-in-law, Samuel McKenney, who accounts to me for all 
moneys and property employed therein, and the profits there- 
of, and receives a stated salary for his services and care, now 
I do hereby declare my mind and intention to be that my said 
trustees do and shall in their discretion continue to carry on 
the said business after my death for such time as they shall 
think it proper and prudent, and to use and employ my prop- 
erty therein, under the care and superintendence of said 
Samuel McKenney, in the same manner as the same is now 
carried on by me, and superintended by him. And I do 
request my said trustees to cause the said Samuel McKenney 
statedly to account with them for all moneys and property 
employed in said business, and all other profits thereof, and 
authorize them to make him such compensation thereout for 
his care and trouble as to them may seem reasonable and 
proper. And I do further direct my said trustees, at one or 
more stated periods in each year, to pay and apply the whole 
of the profits arising from such business to and for the use 
and benefit of my said daughter, the wife of the said Samuel 
McKenney, and her family, exclusive of the control of her 
said husband and free from liability to his debts or engage- 
ments. And I do hereby vest in my said trustees a discre- 
tionary power to discontinue the said business at any time 
when they shall think proper, recommending it to my said 



The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 53 

trustees to communicate and consult with said Samuel Mc- 
Kenney from time to time as to the propriety of continuing 
or discontinuing the said business, and of the employment of 
the funds and property vested therein, in any other business 
under his management and care, but in the same manner and 
for the same purpose, and the same disposition to be made of 
the profits as is hereinbefore expressed as to the business now 
carried on and directed to be continued in the discretion of 
my said trustees after my death. 

"And I do hereby declare my will and mind to be that when 
and so soon as two of my said trustees above named shall 
happen to die, or any of them shall become incapable of act- 
ing, so that by death or incapacity their number shall be 
reduced to two, that then the survivors of them, or if more 
than two shall happen to die or become incapable, the sur- 
vivor of their or his heirs, executors, or administrators, shall 
and do forthwith convey and assign all the said trust funds 
remaining in their or his hands, and all their or his estate or 
interest therein, to two or more trustees to be nominated by 
such survivors or survivor, in such manner so that the legal 
estate thereof may be vested in such survivor or survivors, 
and the person who shall be nominated as aforesaid, upon the 
trusts aforesaid, and so from time to time, and as often as 
the present or any succeeding trustees shall be reduced by 
death or incapacity to two or one, as the case may happen to 
be, to the end that the legal estate and the said trust fund, 
and the trusts and purposes hereinbefore declared concerning 
the same, may be preserved and kept alive. 

"And I do particularly recommend it to my said trustees 
for the time being to effect an insurance from fire upon such 
part of the said trust fund as may be liable to destruction 
from fire, immediately after my decease, and to continue the 
same until the said property should become changed and con- 
verted by sale or sales into property not liable to such de- 
struction, or up to the period of the division and distribution 
aforesaid. 

"And I do hereby further declare my will and mind to be 



54 The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 

that if from any cause my property should at the time of my 
death have depreciated in value from what may at the date 
hereof be deemed its just value, such depreciation shall operate 
equally upon all the legatees, specific, general, and residuary, 
of this my will, (my said wife and any child or children I 
may have by her excepted,) so as that they shall all bear an 
equal proportion of such depreciation in value, according to 
the amount or amounts of their said several and respective 
legacies or shares. 

"And I do hereby direct my said trustees to retain, out of 
the said trust moneys, the sum of $500 each, as a testimony 
of my esteem and friendship; and I do accordingly give to 
each of them, the said Jacob Hoffman, David English, Walter 
Smith, and Leonard Mackall, the said legacy of $500 for his 
own use. 

"And I do hereby further declare that my said trustees for 
the time being shall and lawfully may from time to time 
deduct or retain, out of the moneys which shall come to their 
hands, under the trusts of this my will, all such costs, charges, 
damages, and expenses as they may pay, expend, sustain, or 
be put to by reason of or in execution of the trusts hereby 
declared and created ; and also that they shall not be charged 
or chargeable with or accountable for more money, stock, in- 
terest, dividends, rents, and effects than they respectively shall 
actually receive by virtue of this my will, nor shall the one 
of them be answerable or chargeable for or with the act, pay- 
ment, receipt, or default of the other of them, but each of 
them for himself and his own act, receipt, payment, and 
default only; and in case any loss shall happen to the said 
trust money, securities, or stocks, or the interests or dividends 
thereof, without the wilful default or neglect of the said trus- 
tees or any of them respectively, then they the said trustees 
or any of them, their or any of their heirs, executors, or 
administrators, shall not be charged or chargeable with or 
liable to answer or make satisfaction for such loss or any part 
thereof, and in case such loss shall happen by or through the 
wilful neglect or default of any of the said trustees, then he 



The Foxall Cannon Foundry. 55 

or they only by whose default or neglect it shall happen shall 
be answerable for the same. 

"And lastly I do hereby constitute and appoint my said 
son-in-law, Samuel McKenney, and the said Jacob Hoffman, 
David English, Walter Smith, and Leonard Mackall, execu- 
tors of this my last will and testament, hereby revoking all 
former will or wills by me at any time heretofore made. 

"In witness whereof, I the said Henry Foxall have here- 
unto set my hand and seal this twelfth day of April, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty- 
three. 

"Henry Foxall. (Seal.) 
"Signed, sealed, published, and declared by the said Henry 
Foxall as and for his last will and testament, written upon 
thirteen pages, and his initials and ours affixed to each of the 
first, third, fifth, seventh, ninth and eleventh pages, in the 
presence of us whose names are hereunto subscribed, who at 
his request, in his presence and in the presence of each other, 
have subscribed our names as witnesses thereto, the words 
'my said son-in-law Samuel McKenney and,' above inter- 
lined between the fifteenth and sixteenth lines, being previ- 
ously interlined. 



Admitted to probate March, 1824. 



"Thos. C. Wright. 
"Jno. Little. 
"W. Redin." 



RFp'C 



AUG 26 1908 






